Alex Rowe who won the Grasmere Gallop 17k Trail Race seen here at Catforth
It was a mixed week for weather with cool temperatures and high winds interspersed with some summery weather and warmer temperatures. Wesham substituted a rejection from the Welsh Castles Relay with a weekend in Ambleside for the Grasmere Gallop which took place on Saturday. In wild and windy conditions Alex Rowe won the 17km race that incorporated all of the 10km route with an extra climb over the flank of Loughrigg and skirting the Langdale valley. Rowe was in fourth place at the bottom of the climb around Loughrigg but with a strong ascent and descent moved up to second before assuming the lead over the final two kilometres. He finished first in 1:12:14, six seconds clear of second place. Lee Barlow came in 11th in 1:18:15, 2nd M40 with Steve Myersough 18th and 4th M40 with 1:20:44. John Collier was 2nd M60 and 20th overall in 1:21:19. Emma Pass finished 4th woman and 33rd overall in 1:25:43, and Simon Eaton was 40th and 10th M40 in 1:26:54. Helen Lawrenson was 15th woman and 4th W40 in 1:33:38, ahead of Chris Moss who placed 60th and 12th M50 in 1:34:11. Kath Hoyer was 2nd W50 exactly a minute adrift of 1st place, coming in 17th woman in 1:35:39 in 63rd place overall. Russell Mabbett was 64th with 1:35:44 and Sharon Cooper finished 19th woman and 5th W40 in 1:36:08, 66th overall. Alan Taylor was 80th in 1:39:01. Paul Carter was 144th in 2:07:32. Steven Gore ran the 5k race finishing 31st in 38:31 supporting family; Kerry Eccles hada good run in the 10k race finishing 43rd woman and 7th W50 in 59:34, 116th overall. Debbie Myerscough was 72nd in the 10k with 1:03:40, 11th W50 and 174th overall. Also in the party Tanya Barlow finished 78th in the 10k (180th overall) in 1:03:59 and Jeff Wright was 112th in the 17k with 1:47:58.
Julie Rooney finished 6671st in the Edinburgh Marathon in 5:28:48 having passed halfway in 2:33:10, a marvellous achievement. Lizzie Jones also ran the race but her results are not available.
The first Badger Sett Run of 2015 took place on Thursday evening in Cuerden Valley south of Bamber Bridge. Six Wesham members were running on a fine evening after a beautiful afternoon, the first summery weather for some time. David Taylor was the first Wesham finisher with a fine run to place 10th in 40:13 for the undulating course. Steve Myerscough was 15th and 5th M40 in 41:13. Garry Barnett continued his recent return to form with 41:13 to place 17th, taking the Wesham men to 3rd team position. Paul Gregory made a welcome return and he finished 28th in 43:31. George Kennedy was placed 80th and 9th M55 in 50:15 with Nicola Unsworth 12th woman and 3rd W40 in 50:16, 81st overall. There were over 200 runners in the race demonstrating the growing popularity of this event.
Four Wesham members headed to Chorley for the Astley Park Trail race on Wednesday evening over 4.6 miles as the recent challenging weather began to abate. Steve Myerscough finished 23rd and 4th M40 in 28:50 for the undulating trail race. Helen Lawrenson came in 8th woman and 2nd W45 in 33:32, 63rd overall. Dave Waywell was 2nd M70 and 90th with 37:20. Debbie Myerscough was 21st woman and 3rd W50 in 40:29, 99th overall.
Peter Cruse finished 13th in the Bendrigg 10k on Saturday, placing 4th M50 in 42:41 over the hilly course from the outdoor adventure centre for disabled and disadvantaged. Thewre were just 100 runners in this race won by danny Parkinson of Kendal in 34:33 and Heidi Dent of Howgill in 40:50.
Catherine Carrdus ran the fastest women’s time in the Cuerden Valley parkrun on Saturday morning, clocking 21:38 on the acknowledged toughest parkrun in the North West for W40 age graded performance of 72.19%. This was just 10 seconds short of her best for this course. John Bertenshaw ran 22:38 for an M55 grade of 70.25%, a new personal best for him. David Taylor clocked 18:46 in the Preston parkrun for 68.74% and Nicola Unsworth ran 23:05 for a W40 68.16%.